World Travel Airways Flight 720
Summary World Travel Flight 720 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, to Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska, with an intermediate stopover at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Aircraft The accident aircraft was a Boeing 747-214M Combi (registration N401WT), nicknamed "Yankee". The aircraft was produced in October 1980 and conducted its maiden flight on November 15, 1980. The aircraft was delivered to World Travel in January 1981. The plane has accquired over 23,078 hours flying time since its entry into service. Flight Crew In command was Captain Oscar Crag. He had been flying the Boeing 747 since 1973 and had accumulated over 38,900 flight hours in the B747. He was also (at the time of the incident) commercially licensed to fly the Airbus A300, Airbus A310 and the Boeing 727. His first officer is 39-year-old Sam Von Güssenheimer. He had accumulated more than 25,820 in the Boeing 747. The flight engineer was 47-year-old Nigel Axel, and the relief Flight Engineer was Rafael Cortez. Incident Shortly after takeoff from Miami International, the plane suddenly entered a stall. The pilots attempted to recover to no avail. The plane smashed into the Florida Everglades, killing all 299 onboard and 3 on the ground. This accident was the worst and deadliest commercial aviation disaster to occur in Florida and the deadliest accident involving World Travel Airways. The accident surpassed World Travel Flight 138 in 1986, in which all 281 passengers and crew were killed. As of 2016, WT720 '''remains the deadliest accident in World Travel's history. The accident had also succeeded that of Eagle Airways Flight 6821 in 1990 that crashed upon landing in New Orleans. It was later succeeded by Global Freightways Flight 77 in 1996 when the plane stalled during takeoff from Memphis and then the crash of Orbit Airlines Flight 872 which overrun the runway at San Francisco and ditched into San Francisco Bay in 2000. Crash Events and Rescue and Recovery Efforts Timeline ''12 April 1995''''' Investigation Personnel from the Dade County Sherriff's Department, the Florida Highway Patrol, and US Coast Guard rescue personnel stationed at NAS Key West were called out to assess the crash. Because of the immense size of the post-crash fire, it took firefighters about 2 hours to fully contain the blaze. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) sent a team of investigators to the crash site to assist in investigation and recovery efforts. The resulting forces of the crash and post-crash fire destroyed the Boeing 747 and its cargo, with debris scattered within a half-mile radius of the crash site. The remains of the crash victims were also scattered and were severely fragmented; only 2 of the victims were visually identifiable. Many of the victims were never identified. The plane's flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) were recovered by rescue personnel on 22 April and were sent to the NTSB for analysis on 25 April. It was noted that during the flight's turn to the north, prior to the crashing sound heard by the flight crew, an unidentified sound resembling that of a cable snapping, which was not audible to the crew, was heard, followed by a sound like rolling tires. The object then crashed into another object, probably a cargo palate, which then likely tipped over, spilling its cargo, and struck another palate, which then likely tipped over, spilling its cargo, and struck the wall of the aircraft. NTSB investigators promptly identified the sound of rolling tires as a vehicle inside the cargo area breaking its restraints and rolling off its palate. There was only one vehicle inside the cargo area during the flight, the brand-new Jeep Grand Cherokee which was loaded onto the plane by ground handlers at Miami Airport; the remains of the vehicle along with the palate it was transported on were recovered on 28 April. When questioned about the loading of the Jeep, 3 ground handlers on duty at the time reported that they noticed no defects in the restraints used to tie down the Jeep's wheels. However, further scrutiny of the vehicle's restraints proved otherwise. When investigators looked at the snapped restraints used on the Jeep's rear wheels, they noticed that they had been severely stressed through repeated use transporting vehicles. These statements also concurred with another on-duty ground handler, Garret Shores, who reported to investigators that both the front restraints were, indeed, damaged due to stress fatigue. He also stated that, at the time, the airline's budget was considerably low in the 2 years leading up to the crash of Flight 720 in 1995, meaning that the purchase of new sets of vehicle restraints for their cargo aircraft would drag the airline into serious debt, and that, for transporting vehicles, they have been using the same sets of restraints since 1991, the same year World Travel Airways introduced vehicle freight operations on their cargo aircraft. At the time, WTA had 5 sets of vehicle restraints, all either slightly or moderately worn-out through repeated use transporting vehicles. These particular restraints used on board Flight 720 were used on 100 different vehicles since summer 1992, including 21 automobiles, 16 pickup trucks, 13 SUVs, 5 vans, and 2 trailers. Over time, the restraints were placed under extreme stress as they were tightened onto vehicles' wheels. Finally, it was noted that World Travel Airways had adopted a time-saving practice for tying down vehicles and loading them into the aircraft. Shores stated that when a vehicle was loaded into an aircraft, the vehicle palate is placed into the cargo area front end first by a heavy-duty forklift, then rotated 90° to the right so that the front end of the vehicle is facing toward the stern of the aircraft. However instead of the required vehicle restraining method of tying down all 4 wheels of the vehicle, the airline thought it more efficient to tie down only the front wheels of the vehicle, a process which would save about 15 minutes and was not recommended by aviation authorities. This practice made the aircraft, the vehicles and their restraints, and other cargo more prone to damage caused by the vehicles overstressing the restraints to the breaking point and rolling off of the palates or tipping over and crashing into the aircraft structure or other cargo palates. Also, because of the immense weight of the cargo inside an aircraft, these problems can also lead to dramatic weight shifts within the rear cargo compartment, which can cause the plane to roll over if the weight shift is toward one side of an aircraft, to dive if the weight shift is toward the front of an aircraft, or to stall if the weight shift is toward the rear of an aircraft. In the case of Flight 720, it was believed that the incorrect procedure of tying down vehicles implied by World Travel Airways was carried out on the brand-new Jeep Grand Cherokee prior to it's loading onto the aircraft, using a set of worn-out heavy-duty vehicle restraints to tie down the Jeep's front wheels, which, during the flight's climb and southwest turn, snapped due to extreme stress placed on them by the Jeep's wheels, allowing the vehicle to roll off the palate and to strike another cargo palate, which tipped over, striking another palate, which also tipped over and struck the wall of the Boeing 747, damaging the plane's structure and causing the plane to enter a phugoid and an unrecoverable aerodynamic stall. Aftermath Based on their findings, the NTSB published their official investigation report on September 14, 1995, stating the above-mentioned factors that led to the crash and recommending that aviation authorities impose strict penalties on airlines for failing to follow proper recommendations for vehicle freight operations. In 1996, following the filing of a $2.5 million lawsuit, World Travel agreed to pay compensation to the families of the crash victims as well as to the private customer who bought the Jeep which was being transported on board the doomed flight. In response to financial troubles after the crash, World Travel temporarily ceased its vehicle freight operations in July 1996 and retired it's remaining fleet of 747-200 aircraft in 1997. The 747-200s were later replaced with the more advanced 747-400 in November 1999 and, after 4 years of financial worries inflicted by the crash, the airline once again resumed their vehicle freight operations in 2000. Following the resuming of the airline's vehicle freight operations, in mid-June 2000, the flight number for the Miami-Anchorage route was changed to 420, and is operated by the 747-400. However, the flight no longer stops in Toronto. In 2003, a permanent memorial was unveiled near the site of the crash, with several pieces of aircraft debris as well as several pieces of the destroyed Jeep, including pieces of a tire and wheel, engine parts, a smashed door, and part of the grill, still remaining. Category:World Travel Airways Accidents and Incidents